Multiple device access windowing display

Abstract

A system and method for providing access to a video display for multiple devices. Various aspects of the present invention may comprise receiving a first display driver signal through a first display driver interface and a second display driver signal through a second display driver interface. A first module (e.g., a window multiplexer module) may process the first and second display driver signals to form respective first and second video windows in a composite display. For example, the first module may transform and translate video information to fit a window. The first module may, for example, generate an output video signal comprising information of the first window and information of the second window. Such a signal may, for example, be utilized to drive an output display showing the first and second windows. Various aspects may also provide method steps and apparatus for controlling features of the displayed windows.

1. A video display system, comprising:
 a first and second display driver interface operable to receive a first and second video display driver signal from a first and second device, respectively; and 
 at least one module, communicatively coupled to the first and second display driver interface, wherein the at least one module is operable to, at least: 
 receive the first and second video display driver signal from the first and second display driver interface, respectively; 
 generate a video signal corresponding to the first and second video display driver signal, the video signal comprising information of first and second display windows; and 
 change dimensions of the first and second display windows by sub-sampling the video signal. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one module comprises a window multiplexer module that operates to output a signal comprising information of both the first display window and the second display window. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first display driver interface comprises a composite video input. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first display driver interface comprises a component video input. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first display driver interface comprises an input compatible with a computer graphics card output. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first display driver interface and the second display driver interface each comprise a respective wireless interface capable of receiving a respective wireless video display driver signal. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one module comprises a control module operable to receive one or more window control signals from a plurality of users and determine dimensions of the first and second display windows based, at least in part, on the one or more window control signals. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one module comprises:
 a first and second sub-module operable to receive the first and second video display driver signal and transform the first and second video display driver signal to a first and second window signal, respectively; and 
 a third sub-module operable to combine the first and second window signal into an output video signal. 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one module comprises:
 a first and second sub-module operable to receive the first and second video display driver signal and convert the first and second video display driver signal into digital information of a first and second display window, respectively; and 
 a third sub-module operable to combine the digital information of a first and second display window into digital information of a display image, wherein the display image comprises at least a portion of the information of the first and second display window. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a graphics generator operable to generate first and second graphics information associated with the first and second display window, respectively, where the information of the first and second display window comprises the first and second graphics information, respectively. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the output display driver, the first display driver interface, the second display driver interface, and the at least one module are integrated in a single integrated circuit. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 1 , comprising a remote control interface operable to receive, from a remote control, window control information comprising information of window spatial characteristics, wherein the at least one module operates to receive, via the remote control interface, user input information comprising window dimension information for the first and second display windows, and to generate a video signal based, at least in part, on the received user input. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 1 , comprising a remote control interface operable to receive, from a remote control, window control information comprising information of window spatial characteristics, wherein the at least one module operates to receive, via the remote control interface, user input information comprising window placement information for the first and second display windows, and to generate a video signal based, at least in part, on the received user input. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 1 , comprising a remote control interface operable to receive, from a remote control, window control information comprising information of window spatial characteristics, wherein the at least one module operates to receive, via the remote control interface, user input information defining window layering characteristics for the first and second display windows, and to generate a video signal based, at least in part, on the received user input. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 1 , comprising a remote control interface operable to receive, from a remote control, window control information comprising information of dimension of the first and second display windows. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the information of the second display window is layered with respect to the first display window. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is further operable to, at least: change dimensions of the first and second display windows by interpolating. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is further operable to, at least: change dimensions of the first and second display windows by matrix processing. 
     
     
       19. A method, comprising:
 receiving, via a first and second display driver interface, a first and second display driver signal from a first and second video source device, respectively; 
 receiving, via a remote control interface, window control information from a remote control, where the window control information comprises information of window spatial characteristics; and 
 processing the first display driver signal to generate video information of a first display window; 
 processing the second display driver signal to generate video information of a second display window; 
 changing dimensions of the first and second display windows by sub-sampling video information of the first and second display windows. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , wherein generating an output display driver signal comprises utilizing a window multiplexer to multiplex information of the first display window and information of the second display window and outputting a signal comprising the multiplexed information. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 20 , comprising communicating the output display driver signal to one or more video display devices. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 20 , wherein generating an output display driver signal comprises storing at least a portion of the video information of the first display window in a display buffer, and storing at least a portion of the video information of the second display window in the display buffer. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the receiving a first display driver signal comprises receiving a composite video signal, and the processing the first display driver signal comprises transforming the composite video signal into video information of the first display window. 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the receiving a first display driver signal comprises receiving a component video signal, and the processing the first display driver signal comprises transforming the component video signal into video information of the first display window. 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the receiving a first display driver signal comprises receiving a video signal output from a graphics card, and the processing the first display driver signal comprises transforming the video signal output from the graphics card into video information of the first display window. 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the receiving a first display driver signal comprises receiving a wireless signal comprising the first display driver signal and the receiving a second display driver signal comprises receiving a wireless signal comprising the second display driver signal. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 19 , comprising receiving one or more window control signals from a plurality of remote control devices, and wherein processing the first and second display driver signals to generate video information of the first and second display windows comprises determining a spatial characteristic of the first and second display windows based, at least in part, on the one or more window control signals. 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 19 , comprising receiving window control information from a remote control device via a window control. 
     
     
       29. The method of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the processing the first and second display driver signal to generate video information of a first and second display window, respectively, comprises: 
 determining first and second video information from the first and second display driver signal, respectively; 
 performing first and second image size transformation processing on the first and second video information to fit the first and second video image to the first and second display window, respectively; and 
 generating video information of the first and second display window based at least in part on the results of the first and second image size transformation processing, respectively. 
 
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least a portion of video information of the first display window comprises graphics information associated with the first display window, and at least a portion of video information of the second display window comprises graphics information associated with the second display window. 
     
     
       31. The method of  claim 19 , comprising receiving, via the remote control interface, user input information comprising window dimension information for the first and second display windows, and wherein generating an output display driver signal comprises generating the output display driver signal based, at least in part, on the received user input. 
     
     
       32. The method of  claim 19 , comprising receiving, via the remote control interface, user input information comprising window placement information for the first and second display windows, and wherein generating an output display driver signal comprises generating the output display driver signal based, at least in part, on the received user input. 
     
     
       33. The method of  claim 19 , comprising receiving, via the remote control interface, user input information defining window layering characteristics for the first and second display windows, and wherein generating an output display driver signal comprises generating the output display driver signal based, at least in part, on the received user input. 
     
     
       34. The method of  claim 19 , comprising generating an output display driver signal comprising at least a portion of the video information of the first and second display window. 
     
     
       35. A method comprising:
 receiving, via a display driver interface, a display driver signal from a video source device, the display driver signal corresponding to a video image; 
 processing the display driver signal to generate video information of a display window; and 
 changing a dimension of the display window by sub-sampling the video information of the display window. 
 
     
     
       36. The method of  claim 35 , where the dimension of the display window are definable by a remote control via a remote control interface. 
     
     
       37. The method of  claim 36 , comprising receiving, via the remote control interface, window control information from the remote control. 
     
     
       38. The method of  claim 37 , wherein in the sub-sampling of the video information of the display window is based on the window control information.